


Lunch Fight

by lunestardrops



Series: The Story Of The Vanished [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, College, Corruption, Fluff and Angst, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Going to Hell, Kidnapping, M/M, Verbal Abuse, What Was I Thinking?, bad family relationship, very random, you're most likely gonna suffer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26624836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunestardrops/pseuds/lunestardrops
Summary: Taeyong starts a revolution. Admittedly not how he expected. But, well, you don't really have say in that when you're the leader of more than a thousand kids trying to overthrow the school system, and are the son of the head of said order, so he'll take what he can get.or(When the school rules start to get a little too tight, some students begin thrashing so they can breathe. Taeyong ends up in the middle of it. As the leader. How? He’s not so sure.)
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Kim Jungwoo/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le, Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun
Series: The Story Of The Vanished [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953193
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Lunch Fight

**Author's Note:**

> Taeyong never quite liked his father. It seems now he has a reason to hate him with every ounce of nastiness in his body.

Taeyong should've known something was going to go insanely wrong that day the second he found Mark at the table, staring at his phone with a frown on his face and creases between his eyebrows. Taeyong had brushed his thumb between the bunch of lines on his forehead and tried to ask what was wrong, but Mark brushed it off with an awkward laugh and a change of topic.

Taeyong knew something had to have been wrong but he knew Mark would tell him when he was ready. If the Lee brothers had any kind of rules, it was that they had to respect each others boundaries. Taeyong waited for Mark, so Mark would wait for Taeyong. It was something that had gone unspoken but while watching each other grow up it just kind of became solidified without having to say anything or discuss it.

He drove Mark to school like he did every day, still, something dangled between the two of them, it was practically suffocating. But the Lee brother rules still existed so Taeyong stayed silent and tried to make the trip less awkward by asking Mark about how school was doing and talking about the songs that played on the radio.

It did little to lift the worry crushing Taeyong's heart, however he did his best to distract the both of them. When they finally got there Mark didn't waste any time to throw a good bye behind his shoulder and walk into the school building without him. 

The only time he caught Mark smiling that day, even slightly, was when he saw Mark talking to a boy with orange-auburn hair in the hall. The boy radiated a bright aura and talked animatedly. Taeyong recognized him as one of Mark's fellow Chess classmates, as well as one of the Theatre majors. His hands glistened in the light of the halls when he moved them, fingers adorned in rings, wrists covered in endless bracelets.

Mark responded shyly, cheeks going a deep pink, fingers fiddling with the hem of his sweater sleeves. He looked like a boy who was having his first ever crush, and Taeyong couldn't blame him, the auburn had one of the prettiest faces he had ever run across, and maybe in a different world, he'd even be an angel.

But that was only one of the many strange things that happened that day. Taeyong is late to almost all of his classes, which literally _never_ happens. He almost completely misses his Algebra test, and then continues the bad streak by completely messing up his tutoring class with one of his younger distant cousins by bringing the wrong lessons and repeatedly stumbling over his words. After spilling his coffee on one of his fellow classmates, he thinks there is nothing else that could happen to ruin his day even more.

Oh how wrong he was. He receives a C- on his science major project, which only tanks his mood more, and makes him snappier. That is also a problem because when a student next to him in Economics asks him a question, he snipes moodily at him. The doe eyed boy who asked him the question, Seungcheol Choi, if he's remembering correctly, shrinks back in his seat and Taeyong apologizes profusely.

Later that day when Taeyong is in his second to last class, he gets called to the front office and is handed a phone with the one sentence explanation of that his father is calling.

"Yes, Father?"

"Ah, son. How have classes been treating you?"

"Quite well. However, they'd be doing better if I was in the lecture I'm currently missing."

"Well isn't it more important to talk to your dad?"

"I'm not so sure, _Dad_. Considering the fact I was forced into this college. What is it that you want? I've had a shitty day and you could've just talked to me at home or during my lunch break. You _know_ what my schedule is. For fucks sake you made it for me!"

The receptionist who is currently sitting at her desk in front of him while he talks lifts her eyes at him, pupils wide in shock. No one dared talk to the head of the school board like that. And under any other circumstances Taeyong wouldn't either. But, well, he hasn't had the most splendid day so far. He couldn't really find it in himself to care.

"Well. I will let you go then if that's how you're feeling currently."

Taeyong doesn't say goodbye, or anything else, simply rolls his eyes, hands the phone back to the lady and walks out of the front office, slamming the door closed, and stalking the rest of the way to his class.

* * *

School is currently causing him all kinds of problems. Taeyong is bored out of his mind and his fellow classmates beside him, who are actually doing their work, are a major buzz kill. So Taeyong is forced to sit through the whole hour and a half of Art History with the straw of his long emptied Iced Americano dangling in between his teeth, brain still replaying the call he had had with his father earlier.

College was never really his thing, school in general. But his father wanted him to attend the college he ran. And so here he is attempting to get by while working on a major in Advertising and Fashion design. The only bright part of his day was lunch, but unfortunately for him, his break was right after his longest and most excruciating class Taeyong had ever had. 

Honestly, Taeyong's not so sure how the hell he'd ended up in Mrs. Liu's Art History class. But he found himself sitting there twice a week on Wednesday's and Friday's at 2:30 PM sharp to 4 PM. Mrs. Liu was dragging on about some old renaissance paintings when he catches the eyes of his little brother currently peeking in the door that leads to his lecture hall.

Isn’t he supposed to be in Music Theory right now? The panic in his little brother’s eyes doesn’t go unnoticed. Taeyong is transported to earlier this morning, then to a night he'd love to forget about for the rest of his life. Taeyong’s hand shoots up into the air before he can start to think about what he’s doing. 

“Yes, Mr. Lee?”

Taeyong begins to stand up, gathering his jacket, few notebooks, and pens into his arms before hurriedly rushing out of the classroom. He gives his teacher a simple explanation before throwing the door open and going to his brother.

“Family emergency, Mrs. Liu. I’ll do the homework, don’t worry.”

When Taeyong slips into the hallway and quietly closes the door behind him, he does not expect to find his brother curled into a ball, shoving himself against the hallway wall, trying to keep his sniffles noiseless. As soon as Mark looks up and at him, eyes flooding with tears, lip chewed so far down in some places it's bleeding, and hair a mess atop his head, as if he had been repeatedly running his hands through the dark locks, Taeyong thinks there is nothing he wouldn't do to protect him. 

"Oh, Mark. Come here."

Mark doesn't need any more encouragement, he only shakily pulls himself up and falls into Taeyong's warm, comforting arms.

* * *

The rest of the period passes quickly and once the lunch bell finally rings through the empty hallways Mark's eyes closed, his breath is evened while he sleeps on Taeyong's lap. Taeyong continuously combs through Mark's hair as he sleeps with one hand, something he hasn't done since they were little.

The other hand attempts to slip his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and send a message to Jaebum, one of Taeyong's closer friends and a student he shared Advanced Sciences with. Typing with one hand is definitely difficult and Taeyong regrets not sending the text before he had gotten to Mark. Normally Taeyong would contact one of Mark's friends, but Mark was only friends with the other kids in his chess class, and well, Taeyong hadn't quite met them yet. 

_Hey, could you come help me with my brother?_

_He fell asleep on me in the hallway._

_I'd like to get him out of here before the halls flood, but I can't pick him up by myself._

_oh shit, really?_

_yeah, give me like 30 secs i'll be there_

Jaebum appears a few minutes later, dragging his grumpy looking boyfriend through the surprisingly still quiet hallway, who's face quickly melts when he catches the sight of Mark asleep on Taeyong's lap. Taeyong lifts a finger to his lips and then tilts his head towards the body on his legs which are rapidly losing blood flow. A wave of worry and understanding pass across Jaebum's face. 

"See? I told you that he needed help, babe."

The puppy looking boy goes pink but waves his hands frantically in Mark's direction, clearly trying to get his boyfriend back on track. Jaebum slips his arms under Mark's abdomen and under his knees before lifting him up as if he was a feather. Mark shifts slightly, but settles back done with not a single sound.

Taeyong's leg is relieved of the weight of his brother but as his leg is still trying to fix his blood flow, it feels like a million pins are pricking the skin of his leg over and over again. It's the most unpleasant feeling Taeyong has ever had the (non)pleasure of experiencing. Taeyong stands up quickly as possible, leading Jaebum and his brother out of the college and into the parking lot where Taeyong's familiar black BMW sits abandoned on the gray concrete. 

Taeyong fishes his car keys out of the pocket of his hoodie and unlocks the door of the vehicle. Jaebum sets Mark down like he was a piece of china passed down over the generations. It's not much, but Taeyong promises to return the favor and gets in the car, turning the engine on and speeding out of the graveyard parking lot. Completely unaware of the chaos about to erupt.

* * *

When Taeyong finally arrives home, Mark is awake, and he isn't at all surprised that both his mom and dad's cars aren't in the driveway. Before Mark can get out of the car and attempt to avoid Taeyong's rush of questions, Taeyong has already grabbed his hand and stopped him from unbuckling his seat belt.

"Mark, what was that? Earlier. You haven't had a meltdown that bad since.....forever."

Taeyong tires to not mention _that_ incident, but it seems his attempts are worthless. Mark's eyes go dark with pain and past memories Taeyong wishes he could forget as well. He doesn't answer, just snatches his hand out of Taeyong's and scrunches his face into annoyance. Mark will obviously not say anything, his face and his body are tense, his eyes shake at the feeling of a billion different emotions flowing through his body all the way to the tips of his trembling, thin fingers. It's a situation Taeyong hasn't found himself facing since he had to drag Mark out of their father's office in a panic when they were 6 and 7 years old. Mark had foolishly snuck out of bed to go ask their dad why he hadn't gotten to bed yet.

* * *

_Night Of November, 1994, 15 years ago_

Taeyong awakes at four in the morning to the loud sound of a body falling onto the hard wooden floor of the mansion Taeyong is forced to call home. He doesn't think twice, just throws the weight of his sky blue comforters off his body and messily shoves his feet into his slippers, throwing his bedroom door open and rushing down the hall to his younger brother's room door. The glazed maple wood door is open. While Taeyong stands in the middle of the bedroom, a gust of chilly winter night air twirls around Mark's open window and bites at Taeyong's uncovered legs and face.

A feeling of dread as heavy as a 100 pound bolder forms in Taeyong's stomach, almost causing his legs to buckle under him. It doesn't help that he can hear his mom's sobbing and the annoyed snarling of his dad floating up the stairs from the lower level of the house. When Taeyong finally snaps back to his senses he rushes down the staircase. At the speed he's going it's a wonder that Taeyong doesn't tumble down the stairs in his rush to figure out what's going on.

The sight he lays his eyes upon is something he wishes to burn from his memories. His brother lays unconscious on the floor, blood slowly soaking his night black hair and spreading to the recently cleaned floor, cheek red from some sort of harsh physical contact. Taeyong had never been one to be angry, raise his voice, or be upset with his father. But he found himself drowning in all three emotions.

TV static filled the noise of his mother's crying, the only sound the words he had heard his father utter only moments earlier. _He's a waste to this family. All he does he beg for affection and help. He should be independent and smart. Instead he's just a coward._ It takes all of Taeyong's self control to not laugh at the man he had looked up to and scream in his face that he was just a five year old. No shit sherlock. Of course he'd be asking for affection. He's a growing 4 _year old_. 

A goddamn _child_.

After enough arguing back and forth between his mom and dad, Taeyong found himself in the back of his father's car, combing his fingers through the bloodied hair of Mark, trying his best not to cry. He needed to be strong for his brother in case he woke up. The leather was infused with the smell of cigarettes, whiskey, and that horrid cologne his Father doused himself in every morning. The driver his dad made take Taeyong and Mark to the hospital sat silently in the front, focusing on the road.

The driver's name was Eunhyuk Lee. Taeyong was quite familiar with the older man for he had seen him in the house, as well as fluttering around his dad many times. Taeyong, for his mother's mental health and the pride of their empire company pretended to not know of the affection his dad had for this man than ran way across the adoration for a simple assistant. About a half hour after they got to the hospital Taeyong was sent home with Mark and the same driver and after that incident he made Mark move into his room.

Taeyong had tried to forgive and forget a few years later.

But he never quite got rid of that resentment. 

Just buried it into a deep part of his brain he'd hope to never dig up.

* * *

Mark just glares at Taeyong and storms into the house, ignoring his older brothers pleas for him to slow down. Taeyong slumps into the drivers seat, feeling utterly drained and defeated after the amount of issues he's had today. At this moment, Taeyong regrets not attempting to make any friends. He had nowhere else to go, and at this point, he wishes he could be anywhere but _here_. If his father could see and hear him now, he'd sneer. Call him a coward, call him weak. 

_Always face your issues, Son. You can't say you're a man unless you do._ At the time, Taeyong had just numbly nodded his head and walked out of the office that held so many cursed memories. Now, at the age of 23, Taeyong knows better. Knows that he's just being a _human_ by wanting to be alone. Has learned it's okay, and doesn't make him weak if he wants to go take a walk or lay on the beach if he needs to calm down.

And because he's more mature, and maybe because he's done this a million or so times since he got his license, he restarts the engine of the car and drives the 15 minutes down to the beach with his favorite playlist on. The sun has just started to go down and the waves are so calm they're almost quiet, aqua blue water caressing the shore every so often.

When Blue by Taeyeon comes on he takes a moment to look back at the last week or so. School had gotten more busy and due dates even tighter. Taeyong wasn't used to this rush in assignments and major grades, he'd experienced his last year of high school and first year of college and things had _never_ been this chaotic and stressful. His medication had also started having less affect on him than it used to.

_The white night is beautiful._   
_But the night is even colder today._

Taeyong had been diagnosed with major insomnia when he was 6, and with anxiety when he was 15, his first year of high school. He had been taking pills to help him sleep for about 17 years now, and pills to help him with way his fingers shook and the nausea he got from his anxiety for almost 8 years. The effects of the medicine had kicked in immediately. Nights were easier, and speaking up in class didn't end up with him in a cold sweat and trembling hands.

A few months ago his pills stopped working, they simply didn't affect him anymore. No obvious reason or explanation. Ever since then he couldn't sleep more than half an hour a night and his stress had started getting so bad because of school he'd started crying ever night in the solitude and silence of his room. Some nights, when Taeyong would look back at the day and remember how his eyes would blur and his limbs would shake for no reason, he'd stare out to the moon and wonder if it was as lonely as he was.

_I call your name but there’s no answer._   
_It rings like an echo._

Taeyong hadn't mentioned anything to his brother or his parents, and if they noticed the way his hand weakened on his fork when they asked about school at dinner, they didn't say anything. He doubted that Mark noticed. If Taeyong was confident in anything, it was throwing a mask on in a split second and acting like his life depended on it. Plus, Mark was so focused on his first end-of-the-year college exams that he hadn't had any chance to take care of himself either. While Mark would occasionally look a little tired and a bit untidy, Taeyong would wake up to his alarm in the mornings and go limply stand in front of the mirror.

There, he wouldn't recognize the person who stared back at him. His hair would be a mess from the shaky hands he had just run through it for hours at a time, his eyes would be swollen from tears shed not long ago, at least a few minutes before. The passion and yearn for approval from his Father had long since seeped from his body and Taeyong was more a shell, a skeleton and some measly muscles, than he had ever been. His usually slightly honey tanned skin was now a pale beige color, lips dry cracked and scabbed.

_But when I get farther away._   
_My sighs grow deeper._

While strolling across the cool, light sand, Taeyong wondered if somewhere out there understood the pain he was going through. At that moment Taeyong laughed deep and loud at himself. How he couldn't deal with his own mental luggage without longing for a soulmate or someone to comfort him was a wonder to him. He had been raised to think of studies only, any mental problems you had were simply supposed to be chucked out the window. Taeyong only had his brother's feisty attitude and his own stubbornness to blame it seemed. 

_Just like always._   
_You’re my blue._

Taeyong takes one last look at the sea and the moon that's starting to peak over the horizon. Life is an unlucky thing. And even though Taeyong has been handed a pretty lucky set of playing cards in his life, he's never felt more trapped and under water. The moon bids goodbye across the waves and Taeyong jogs back up the sand, back to his car.

When he gets in, sand grains from his Converse burn themselves into the carpet of his BMW and he tries to ignore the panic that settles deep into his bones at the sight of 4 missed calls from his dad and Mark both as he drives back home as speedily as possible. One more glance at the aqua water gets him ready to face the scolding he'll now doubt receive once he arrives home.

_Only filling me with longing._   
_It spreads but it’s beautiful._

* * *

Taeyong hasn't heard his parents fight since that night 16 years ago, they bickered, but Taeyong's mother hadn't cried or gotten emotional since then, and his father didn't raise his voice. It was the least they could do to try and keep even a slightly held together front to their children. However, he opens the front door to his Father pointing as he's yelling at his mom, she has tears rolling down her face in big droplets and Mark is sitting on the bottom steps of the stairs.

Head in his hands, shoulders shaking, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else than here. Taeyong's first priority at this moment is getting Mark up and far away from this mess. His second most prominent worry is figuring out why this situation is even happening. Before he can do either of those things though, his parents go silent when they finally catch the sight of him in the entrance hall.

He doesn't get the chance to ask his parents anything, they slink into the master bedroom and continue to argue a lot quieter but still somehow obvious. Mark's shoulders stop shaking and Taeyong doesn't even get to step towards Mark when he bolts upstairs and slams the door to his bedroom. It seems that Taeyong can't get close to anyone or anything, for that matter, these days.

After Taeyong changes and attempts to not look as tired as he actually his, he finds he has nothing to do or focus on. Mark still hadn't come out of his bedroom but the sniffling had stopped a while ago so Taeyong leaves him alone. Taeyong's feet pat down the wooden staircase, the house is otherwise silent except the sound of his leveled breathing while walking to the kitchen. Taeyong had many things that interested him but few of them he found he could actually succeed at.

One of the hobbies he ended up doing incredibly well at was cooking. So on nights when his mother didn't want to make dinner, he would. It seemed tonight was one of those nights where she couldn't and so Taeyong set to grabbing ingredients from around the cabinets and starting on the meal. Just when Taeyong drops the spaghetti noddles into the boiling water, Mark shuffles into the dinning room and plots himself onto the stool right in front of the entrance to the kitchen.

They don't talk, the noise of Taeyong chopping up a variety of vegetables and meats and the boiling of the water behind him. When dinner is finally done and Taeyong is done dishing every one's bowls up, he goes to knock on his parents bedroom door. They had yet to come out of the room and though Taeyong strongly disliked them at times, they were still his parents and provided him shelter and clothes, so he made sure they ate at least.

Once he got to the black glazed door, his mother's voice flowed through the crack under the door and directly into his brain.

"Kangdae, you can't keep doing this. Have you seen Taeyong lately? You're going to _ruin_ him. And I will never forgive you when that happens."'

It rendered Taeyong motionless. There was no _if_ or _maybe_ it was just _when_. 

"Honey, you know I'm doing this for him. I'll have to step down. As soon as Taeyong finishes college I'm handing over my job as head of the school board."

Taeyong had been suffering his entire life just so he could finish college to become the decision maker for said college? He'd dealt with insomnia and anxiety his entire life for some shit position he didn't even want. 

"Do you even hear yourself right now? You're not only hurting Taeyong, _Kangdae._ All these kids at college are dealing with so much because of all the rules _you_ keep pushing. I can't believe I married you. You're so _horrible._ Your judgment is so fucking clouded and unreasonable. I was so young and dumb when we fell in love. And you've changed. You were never like this before."

Taeyong had never felt such strong feelings of hate towards his Father. He didn't look back as he grabbed his cars and left the house. He ignored the calls of his brother. Just got in the car and drove away. As far away as he could. God, he couldn't _breathe_. 

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Lunch Fight! This was based off one of my wack ass dreams I had after staying up way past midnight when I had school the next morning. I don’t plan on this being too serious but who knows. I hope you enjoy! This is the first chapter and I do hope you enjoyed! All comments and feedback are appreciated greatly! :D  
> Contact me on twitter @lunestardrops and ask me questions on my cc @lunestardrops!


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